Most kids go home, play violent video games and watch violent movies. I don’t have a problem with that, but at the same time they’ve got to understand that in reality violence has consequences. It’s up to the parents and educators to bridge that gap. The solution is not to hide kids from firearms. It’s not to shield them from reality.

I know for a fact that I’m teaching my kid how to shoot at an early age and I’m going to be there with him every step of the way. He’s going to learn the basics of firearm safety and that they’re just tools. You’ve got to treat them with care and you have to treat them with respect. But, they are tools for the good. That’s what we’ve got to teach the younger generations, because if we can do that we will win. We all want to create a safer environment for this country. We’re not going to achieve that in the long term by taking rights away from people and we’re not going to win with ignorance.

There’s a reason that we teach sex-ed in this county. When we first starting teaching that people were all up in arms about it, saying we shouldn’t be teaching kids about sex, but guess what? Sex happens. It’s a reality. So we decided to teach kids how to be safe. Now we teach them about STDs, pregnancies, and how poor choices can have impacts far beyond what you think about when you’re just a kid.

Why are we afraid of applying that same concept to firearms? What good comes from keeping kids in the dark? So it’s okay that the average fifth grader goes home and kills thousands of people on Call of Duty with every weapon on the market, but he doesn’t know anything about the consequences of that violence in reality?

Born and raised in northern rural Wisconsin, she is an avid outdoors woman, target and skeet shooter, Second Amendment supporter and defender, concealed carry advocate, NRA member and frequent guest on the NRATV News programs Cam&Co and CNLive.
Jenn is a wife and mother, former private detective, active in WI politics, and an outspoken conservative gun owner. Her personal blog can be found on jennjacques.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @JennJacques.